Cotton-harvester.



E. CHILDS.

COTTON HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. so, 1908.

IN NTOI? Clu'lds mums-sum 1.

Patented Feb. 15,1910.

E. UHILDS.

COTTON HARVESTER. APPLICATION FILED 110V. an, 1908.

Patented Feb. 15, 1916 3 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

WITNESSES a I I ATTORNEY nLLswon'rn cnrnns, on NEW yonx, N. Y.

corron-nanvnsrnn.

Specification of Letters'ratent I Patented Feb. 15, 1910.

Application filed November 30, 1908. Serial No. 465,226.

To all'whom' it may concern:

harvesters of the for its main object the production of. a har-' Be it known that I, ELLSWORTH Cairns,

of New York, in the county of New York andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in'Cotton-Harvesteraof which the following is a specification.

The'present invention relates to cotton pneumatic type, and has vester of s'ucli type that will be simple in construction and effective vention will be hereinafter effected at severa in operation.- In the growth of cotton, as is well known, the cotton ripensfir's't'at the bottom of the stands and thenripens gradually from such I point towardther top of the stands as the season advances, and assuchadi al ri' ening. consumes some .c'onsidera lezperio of time, the pi of the cottons usually difiere'nt operations.

To provide aharVesterspeciaIly adapted to meet'such conditions has therefore been a further ob'ect in'my present invention, and,

to this 'en the harvester. will be provided with means adapted for. efiectively removing the cotton fromthe stands at whatever parts thereon it may be ripe and without inany way disturbing the green or unripe otton.

Further obiects and advantages of my inreferred to in the detailed description of the invention which follows.-

In order that'the invention may be clearl accompanying drawings one simple embodiment and in said drawings,- Figure l is a side elevation of a cotton harvester made, in accordance with my improvements. Figs. 2 and 3 are plan andby numerals, arts'in the ame which gear and adapted to be propelled in any suitable. or desired-manner. Mounted upon the said frame 2 isa highower motor .3 of wr-s ta e'trpe adapted to inclose of my 1nvention,

-' vention, .the hood conduits 10 connect withdetail views of parts of. which reference will bebe of any desired construction, the said frame being mounted-on a suitable running an eig t-cylinder .OX-I' 'plos'ive motor being conventionally shown, j and the said motor citizen of the United States, and resident through its power shaft 4 engages and drives two fans or blowers center of the harvester upon a transversely arr'an ed'shaft 6 which is o er'atively connecte with the said motor s aft 4 through the medium of a drive belt7. Each fancasing, 9 communicates by means of a suitable conduit 10 with the pickin hood 11 atthe under side of the vehicle said-hood injthe present case shown having the form of an'open-ended arch of-approxiof cotton and being open at its bottom and a cotton stand as the harvester-is drawn across the field with the hood straddling the row of cotton stands. -hehood11may be operatively connected with the harvester in any suitable manner,- but in order that it may follow the inequalities of the ound, I preferably provide it with adjusta lyconnected shoes or runners 12 for restin and moving upon the ground and loose y suspend it from the frame 2 by flexible connections 13, a suitable lprovided in the conduits flexible j o nt being 10 to provide for t e rise and fall or other ame, the' movement of the hood as the harvester traverses over the ound. The said flexible joint in the conduits 10 may be provided 1n any suitable manner, such asby a. slipoint p y 1.4 as indicated in Figs; 1 and 3 or by in- .understood by those skilled in the art, I have illustrated 'in the terposing a flexible connection 15, in the conduits, as indicated in Fig. 4.

As an important feature'of my present in the hood at the sides thereof, and such'connection is adjustable whereby the intake ends of the conduits may be-raised or lowered to bring them opposite or adjacent to those parts of the stands bearing the ripened cotton, which parts, s'before stated, vary according to the season. In this way' the ripened'cotton may be removed from the stands-without interfering in any way with the unri ened cotton. Furthermore, the intake en s of the hood and in a substantially horizontal position whenadjusted to the lower part thereof asindicate d by, dotted lines in 5, thereby causes the draft of the intake suction to be directed in a lateral or sub- 'of theconduits'being at the sides 70 mately the same height as the-ordinary stand stantially horizontal, direction and so avoid liability ofdrawing dirt or similar-foreign matter from the ground into. the conduit with the cotton. Also, in order to avoid the suction-draft of one conduit interfering with that of the .other, the intake ends of the conduits are preferably located in non-opposite positions as shown in Fig. 4.

The adjustable connection of the conduits with the hood may-.be effected in any suitable or desired way. As shown in the drawings thehood is provided at each side thereof with an elongated slot 16 through which the connecting end of the conduit is passed and provided with a flange 17 for engaging the inner side of the hood, while-a collar 18 is loosely fitted on the-conduit for engagement/with the outer side of the hood, the

said flange l7 and collar 18 being adapted to cooperate for clamping engagement with the hood for the urpose of securing the conduits in adj ustaiile position, by means of a cam-lever 19 on the conduit engaging the collar 18. As the position of the conduits in the slot 16 is adjusted, the slots will preferably be closed by suitable means, such as the removable plates 20 having hood-engaging clamping levers 21.

v As a further-and important feature of my invention, the hood '11 is formed in two longitudinalsections so supported as to have a tendenc 'to move inwardly ortoward each other an thereby closely embrace the cotton stands-and bring the intake ends of the conduits in close relation therewith whereby 'the suction action of said conduits will be rendered more effective. Such moverneutof the hood sections is obtained in the present case by hinging said sections together at their upper ends, as at 22, whereby their lower ends will have a tendency to gravitate toward each other, as indicated in-Fig. 5.

The hood-11 through its connected conduits 10, 1O, delivers to the fan-casings 9, 9, and said fan-casings at their rear ends dcliver to the branching pipes 23,23, of a conduit 24 through which the cotton passes to a cleaning andexhaust cage 25 at one end of said conduit. This cage 25 in the present instanceis shown as made up of rods spaced apart a suitable distance, afl'dat'its rear end the said cage is so constructed as to receive any's'uitablereceptacle, as a bag 26, to which the cotton is delivered by the fan-blast.

The operation of the harvester described thus far, is as follows: The harvester .will

'be drawn over the field-following the cot-ton stands and the suction hood "11. depending beneath the vehicle frame will straddle and embrace the stands as the harvester traverses the'field. As the plant is embraced and inclosed by the hood the suction produced therein will disengage the bolls of ripe cotton and they will pass up through the hood conduits into the fan-casings, from which casings they will be delivered through the flaring delivery conduit to the cleaning cage, and thence to the bag or receptacle in which the cotton is delivered.

- It will be seen that all foreign matter which is taken up'by the powerful suction in the hood will'be entirely eliminated when the cotton, under the influence of the blast,

is carried back into and through the cleaningcage 25. so that the bolls in prime con (lition, ol'l'citii'ely separated from twigs, dirt and the like, will be delivered to the bag or receptacle.

The open cage 25, in addition to permitting of the elimination of all dirt and forcign matter from the cotton during the pas- I sage of the latter through said cage, is also intended to permit of the exhaust of the air blast in advance of the cotton-receiving bag or receptacle, for it will be understood that if such exhaust were not provided for, the

blast from the conduit 24 would blow .or force the bag from its connection.

In order to permit of the removal of the ba or the substitution of an empty bag for a illcd one during the operation of the hair vester without loss or discharge-of the cot/- ton from the cage 25, I prefer to provide a suitable gate at the rear end of the cage, such for example as shown at 27, which is vslidably connected to the cage and adapted to be open when a bag is in position and be closed when the bag i removed, or when one bag is being substituted for another.

What=I claim is: e

1. In a machine of the class described, a wheeled supporting frame, a suction 'apparatus carried thereby, a plant-inclosing suction hood, and, a conduit leading from the side of said hood to the suction apparat us, said conduit having an adjustable conncction with said hood for movement to different parts thereof.

2'. In a machine of the class described, a wheeled supporting frame, a suction apparatus carried thereby, a. plant-inclosing suction hood, and conduits leading from the opposite sides of said hood to the suction apparatus, said conduits each having an adustable connection with said hood for move tit-ally adjustable'conucction with said hood.

'lliO sections pivotally supported for lateral -wheeled supporting frame, suction appasections hinged together at their upper side 5. In a. machine of the class described, a Wheeled supportin frame, a suction apparatus carried there y, a plant-inclosing suction hood, and conduits leading from opposite sides vof said hood at non-opposite positions to the suction apparatus.

6. In a machine of the class described, a Wheeled su porting frame, suction apparatus'carrie thereby, an arch-shaped plantinclosing hood formed in two longitudinal movement relative to each other, and con-. duitsleading from said hood sections to the suction apparatus.

i 7. In a machine of the class described,.a

ratus' carried thereby, an arch-shaped plantinclosing hood formed in two longitudinal to permit of lateral movement relative to c n, are

each other, and conduits leading from said hood sections to the suction apparatus.

8. In a machine of the class described, a wheeled supporting frame, suction apparatus carried thereby, anarclrshaped plantinclosing hood formed in two longitudinal sections supported for lateral movement relative to each other,' and conduits leading from said hood sections to the suction apparatus, said conduits having an adjustable connection with said hood sections for movement to different parts thereof.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 24th day of November A. D. 1908.

ELLSWORTH CHILDE.

\Vitnesses CHAS. F. DANE, J. 13. LE BLANC. 

